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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24768640">-Hunter Lazarus- Book One</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazarusHawthorn/pseuds/LazarusHawthorn'>LazarusHawthorn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Destiny (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Other</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:34:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,958</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24768640</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazarusHawthorn/pseuds/LazarusHawthorn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Follow Lazarus-3 and her Ghost Whisp on their adventures and battles. Resurrected after the completion of the Red War, she quickly learns about the light and darkness of the world she's woken up in. She learns to out dance the fallen, burns the hive, tricks the cabal, shock the vex, and charm the last city.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ghost/Guardian (Destiny)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. A new light is born</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> A flash of light, the sound of breaking stone. She laid on the ground gasping and coughing her vision, slowly fading up from black. She could hear a distant voice growing louder "guardian? Guardian!? can you hear me? my scans didn't say you were deaf." </p>
<p><br/>
 Slowly she looked up at the person speaking to her. Floating not too far from her was a little drone with spinning blocks and a single glowing eye. "can you hear me, guardian?" the drone asked. She nodded before turning her attention to her surroundings.  She was in the cradle of rubble inside of an old skyscraper. She looked down at herself, seeing a navy blue military-like uniform. The night sky above was just beginning to turn blue as the sun was starting to rise somewhere behind the rubble. "good! You're not deaf. Eyes up guardian, it's time to get moving this place isn't safe!" the drone said again before flying off.</p>
<p><br/>
 Climbing onto shaky legs, she followed. "where, where am I?" she asked the drone. Searching her memories, she realized many things were missing. "who am I?" she asked herself more than the drone. </p>
<p><br/>
 "well, according to your uniform, you are Lazarus-3 guardian. An ironic name considering your title as a guardian now. Seeing as you can no longer stay dead as long as I'm around." the drone responded happily.</p>
<p><br/>
 "and who are you?" Lazarus asked. As she weaved through the rubble. Her boots sliding in the dust and sand. "oh, I'm sorry I forgot to introduce myself!" the drone flew back. "I am your ghost! I am the conduit between you and the light. I can do many things, but the most important is to heal and revive you!" the drone dips in the air as if bowing. </p>
<p><br/>
 "But listen, there are enemies that patrol this area. We need to find you a weapon and try to get you some form of transport." the ghost said, zooming back off. Lazarus sighed, her mind swirling with questions. But, she picked up her pace to keep up with the ghost. </p>
<p><br/>
 After several minutes of stumbling and tripping, the ghost called out to Lazarus. Upon reaching her, Lazarus gasped in surprise. Before her laid the body of a young man. A large hole burned into his back. She figured he'd been there a couple days judging by his color. But, in his hand was a large revolver. "the poor boy. Killed by a fallen vandal. Probably didn't even know he was in its crosshairs. But, the hand cannon is in good condition. You'll need it, guardian." the ghost said as it floated over the boy. </p>
<p><br/>
 Lazarus took the gun, shoving it into her belt. She paused a moment and decided this young man deserved more than just being left here in the open. She rolled the body onto it's back and folded his hands over his stomach before she grabbed large stones and began placing them over his remains. To protect him from wild animals. </p>
<p><br/>
 "ghost, what is happening? please, I need to understand whats going on." Lazarus pleaded after placing the final stone over the boy. The ghost floated for a moment. It's single eye considering her for a moment before bobbing as if nodding. "we'll talk and walk at the same time guardian. Come." the ghost said as it turned to continue flying.</p>
<p><br/>
 They walked through the remains of the city while the ghost told her about the golden age created by the traveler. And the collapse caused by the darkness. The birth of ghosts and guardians. The dark ages, the battles of the hive, fallen, cabal, and vex. of the guardian who had defeated oryx of the hive, and Gaul, the leader of the red legion. </p>
<p><br/>
 As they traveled and talked, Lazarus scavenged through the rubble for anything of value. Finding a book bag, a metal bottle with a screw lid, a shard of mirror, and a book of Irish folklore. Using the mirror, Lazarus got a good look at herself for the first time since waking up.</p>
<p><br/>
 Instead of skin, she had metal plating painted emerald green, with copper accents. Her eyes burned a cyan-blue as did her mouth when she spoke. "what...what happened to me?!" she asked the ghost. The ghost scanned her and responded, confused, "nothing. you are in perfect condition."</p>
<p><br/>
 "no, I'm not! why am I a robot!? is this your doing?" Lazarus responded, her panic growing.</p>
<p><br/>
 "no, no, you're an Exo. At some time before I found you, your mind was transferred into a mechanical body. I don't know why you did this, there are many like you amongst the guardians and the histories. despite the mechanical body, you are still human inside." Lazarus looked at her face again, touching the plates that made up her face. She could feel the touch, the breeze, and the warmth of the sun on her "skin." no matter what, she had no choice but to accept it as is for now.</p>
<p><br/>
 As the sunset, Lazarus and ghost slipped into an old storefront setting up camp in the back storeroom. ghost discouraged Lazarus from lighting a fire, saying that the fallen might see it and attack. "where are we going?" Lazarus asked through a yawn. Ghost's shell spun a little bit before projecting a map of the world. "we're here in whats left of Ireland. We need to travel all the way over here to the last city. It's the only safe place for us on this planet, and it's where the vanguard and guardians gather. It will also be the best place to get you fully outfitted so you can protect yourself, and if you choose the last city. Now get some rest guardian, we've got to try and find you a ship, or at least a sparrow so you can travel faster. I'll keep watch." Lazarus nods. "I think I'll read a little bit, can I have some light?" the ghost looked around a moment before nearly resting on Lazarus's shoulder, producing light to brighten up the book. </p>
<p><br/>
 Carefully opening the book, the spine protesting with cracks and creeks. Lazarus scanned the table of contents, a specific chapter catching her eye. With a couple quick flips of pages, she found herself looking at a picture of a ball of blue light floating amongst the trees of a moor. "a willow whisp. a spirit known for leading those who are lost ether to their destination, or to their doom." Lazarus looked at ghost. "do you have a name ghost?" Lazarus asked.</p>
<p><br/>
 "you can give me one if you wish," she responded.</p>
<p><br/>
 "then I shall call you Whisp, for you are my willow whisp. hopefully, you will lead me to my destination and not to my doom." Lazarus said, smiling. The ghost considered the page of the book and her guardian's face. </p>
<p><br/>
 "I'm not wild about being connected to something dangerous. But, if that's what you wish to call me, I guess I don't really mind it. Now off to sleep with you." said ghost before turning off its light and floating into the darkness to keep watch. Lazarus just softly touched the cover of the book, thinking about the day; eventually, she slipped off into sleep without realizing it.</p>
<p> Several days of travel later, Lazarus was looking down on a garage with Whisp floating next to her. "think we'll find anything useful there?" asked Lazarus. Whisp just shrugged her shell but didn't answer. With her hand cannon at the ready, she moved. Inside the burnt husks of several sparrows sat rusting in the showroom. But nothing else moved. </p>
<p><br/>
 Slipping through the door, she moved to the back of the building to the garage. Once there, Whisp scanned the room flying over to one of the sparrows on a lift. "this has some promise. It's missing some pieces, but we might get lucky and find them here too. Give me a moment to look." whispered Whisp before zooming into the shelving racks scanning the rotting boxes there. </p>
<p><br/>
 Brushing the dust from the sparrow's body panel, she found a lovely deep forest green with black and silver accents. Whisp returned and materialized several parts onto the table. "alright, I'll walk you through putting these in, and we'll have something!" said whisp excitedly. </p>
<p><br/>
 "oh joy." sighed Lazarus before going off to root around the various boxes to find tools and begin her work.</p>
<p> She'd been zooming along the broken roads for several weeks. The sparrow had been fixed and, at this point, even tuned up to get a little more kick out of the afterburner. Around her neck flapped the tattered remains of a sheet of canvas that Lazarus had fashioned into a cape for cover and warmth. Despite Whisp warning her of the fallen, she's never seen them in person. Only found their house graffiti and their victims. Until today.</p>
<p><br/>
 Lazarus banked around a burnt truck using the center divider of the highway as a new path. Just as she leveled out, a bright flash flew in from the right, hitting the engine of her sparrow, causing it to sputter and smoke as fire caught. Lazarus jerked to the left hard, spilling the sparrow leaving her sliding and rolling across the pavement into an old car with a heavy thud. </p>
<p><br/>
 "what the hell was that!?" growled Lazarus as she sat up through the pain, drawing her cannon. </p>
<p><br/>
 "a fallen sniper, a vandal. Probably the one we've been following all this time," responded Whisp from her hidden place. Lazarus slowly peeked over the hood toward where the shot had come from. In time to see a fresh bolt come screaming in hitting the rusted metal. "that was close. eyes up guardian, vandals never travel alone." Lazarus saw several figures quickly moving toward her from the underbrush where the shot had come from. "four, maybe five against lonely old me. Not good odds, but I doubt that sniper will let me just run away. I guess I've got no choice but to remove them from my path." said Lazarus as she readied herself to move.</p>
<p><br/>
 Closing her eyes and taking a deep, steadying breath, Lazarus finds herself uttering, "I am a raging river. Watch me flow." something deep inside herself, something not quite physical, stirred inside her. With another deep breath, she burst forward from behind the car. </p>
<p><br/>
 Running at top speed weaving behind various cover preventing the vandal from getting a clean shot, Lazarus closed the distance between her and the fallen dregs. Bringing her revolver to bare, she fired off two shots. The first flying wide, but the second finding it's mark in one of the creature's chest, it's purple blood spraying out as it screams in its strange deep wheezing language. </p>
<p><br/>
 Only twenty feet from her enemies and she's found her stride. Lazarus vaults over a large stone landing directing in front of one of the dregs bringing the cannon against its forehead, it's 4 eyes opening wide in shock before it's face turned into a purple mist. </p>
<p><br/>
 A sharp pain shoots through Lazarus's arm as another dreg pulls a long knife across her metal skin. She pivoted, bringing the cannon around first, hitting the dreg across the face before unloading 3 shots into its gut, dropping it with a gurgling sigh. Quickly reaching down snatching up the knife, she charged the final uninjured dreg unloading her cannon at it before jumping on it, burying the knife into its throat. Lazarus turned to see the fallen she had shot in the chest limping away. She felt a burning fill her chest. "you think you can escape after what you've done!?" she shouts before pulling the knife free, throwing it as hard as possible. The metal first glowed orange with heat before the whole knife bursts into flame, hitting the dreg in the back, causing flames to spread over its body. It screams mixing with the crackle of it's burning corpse. </p>
<p><br/>
 She let out a heavy sigh as she surveyed her work. Something nagging at her until Whisp's voice fills her ear, "watch out!" but it was too late. A white flash and searing pain over her left eye caused Lazarus to fall to the ground. She had forgotten the vandal sniper in her battle frenzy. "you're not dead. But the vandal is coming to check that." whispered Whisp.</p>
<p><br/>
 "good. Let me know when he's about to fire." whispered back, Lazarus remaining entirely still. After a few minutes of nothing but the gentle breeze, she could hear the sound of heavy footsteps. She could hear the hiss of the rebreathers the creatures seemed to wear. It said some words in its tongue before she listened to the hum of its rifle spinning up, ready to fire.</p>
<p><br/>
 "now!" shouted Whisp. Lazarus rolled to her side just narrowly avoiding the killing shot, bringing her gun around, pointing at the alien's chest and pulling the trigger. "click" is all she hears. Her weapon was empty. There was a pause as her, and the vandal looked at the revolver in shock. The silence was broken as the vandal laughed; it's rifle powering up again. Cursing loudly, she grabbed a rock-throwing it at the vandal, making it raise its gun to shield its face. In the moment of blindness, she jumped up, tackling the creature. </p>
<p><br/>
 They tumbled through the grass for a moment, both fightings to grab the other and gain the top position. The vandal managed to get the top position, grabbing a large stone and raising it over its head to crush Lazarus's skull. It roars as it brings the rock down with a heavy thud. The two lay there motionless for a moment before the vandal sat back, looking at the sky. It let out a strained breath before looking down at its knife buried to the hilt in the center of its chest. It gave a gurgling laugh before falling to the side. </p>
<p><br/>
 Whisp materialized, glancing at the fallen before scanning Lazarus. She was dead. The rock had found it's marked. But, with a bright flash and a rush of air Lazarus sat up gasping. She looked at the rock still coated in her fresh oil. "you're ok. I brought you back." soothed Whisp as Lazarus touched her face. She was broken from her inspection by the coughed words from the dying alien. "he's praying." said Whisp.</p>
<p><br/>
 "and what prayers to what alien god does it offer?"Lazarus said, getting up and retrieving her revolver. </p>
<p><br/>
 "Great machine. I fall. Killed by the thieves. We call to you. Beg for your warmth again. Why do you ignore us? Why are we no longer worthy? In my final moments, I plead to you. Please take us back into your warm light. leave us no longer alone in the darkness." Whisp translated as the vandal muttered. Slowly it turned it's four eyes to look at Lazarus. Reaching up and removing its mask, revealing it's the jagged tooth-filled mouth. "you thief, have won. Stolen my light as you stole away the great machine. To you, I leave my curse. May you always be as wanting in the darkness as we are. I curse you to know our pain." it tried to gurgle out some more words before finally it's body went slack, and its chest fell one last time in a soft sigh. </p>
<p><br/>
 "What is the great machine?" Laz asked as she leaned down, taking in the features of this new creature.</p>
<p><br/>
 "that is what the fallen call the traveler. It visited their homeworld before it came to ours. It's believed the darkness caused the traveler to leave their system and come to ours. They feel we stole it from them and have come here to try and reclaim it. it's not going well for them since the battle of twilight gap and the six fronts." Whisp answered. Her eye glowed scanning the vandals remains and then scanning his rifle. "guardian, you should take this. it's in decent condition if nothing else it could help you find food."</p>
<p> "do I even need food, Whisp? I'm a robot, aren't I?" asked Lazarus, confused. </p>
<p><br/>
 "it's apart of exo's programing. It helps prevent the mind from rejecting the robot body. while I can cure you of starvation symptoms, I can't wipe away your hunger."</p>
<p><br/>
 The rifle was a simple bolt action. Nothing fancy, it's scope was just an old fashioned lens, no electronics. on the stock, she found several marks carved in. "what's this?" she asked Whisp, who scanned it before responding softly. "thieves killed." Lazarus looked at Whisp then back to the marks and the dead sniper. "let's get moving before more come looking for them." Lazarus said that going over to wear her sparrow was lying. "damn, I forgot it was damaged." she cursed. Whisp scanned the machine and her shell spinning for a moment. </p>
<p><br/>
 "don't worry guardian!" in a bright flash the damaged bike began to disappear like a drawing in the windblown sand before being replaced by a seemingly completely undamaged sparrow. "so you're telling me you could have fixed it when we first found it!?" asked Lazarus annoyed.</p>
<p><br/>
 "no, I cant fix per-say. I can only restore. When we found the sparrow, it was broken and required someone to actually fix it. After that, I essentially "saved" it's fixed state. Now, all I did was break it down on a molecular level and put it back together, pulling from the surrounding area to fill in the missing pieces." responded Whisp as she hid inside one of Lazarus's pouches. </p>
<p><br/>
 "sounds like a convenient excuse to me," Laz said, smirking as she mounted to new machine the engine roaring to life as before. And so she continued down the highway toward the ocean.<br/>
 She stood on the beach looking out over the rolling water. "that's a lot of water. I wonder how deep it is." Laz asked out loud. </p>
<p><br/>
 "according to the golden age records, just under seven miles. of coarse, we don't know if that's changed since the collapse. One day I'm sure someone will go down and look about. Now we need to cross this ocean. it should take us roughly forty-three hours to drive there if we don't stop." Whisp said, her blue eye glowing hopeful. Laz sighs and looks from her sparrow and to the ocean.

 "well. I guess I should get started then." with a quick respawn of the sparrow to make sure it was in perfect working order. They set off across the water the hover jets kicking up a spray of seawater as she went at full speed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Ghost ship</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A lone sparrow rides over the ocean, approaching the shore. Riding a wave in the sparrow gives a loud coughing bang before spewing smoke and crashing into the sand, dumping its rider several feet away. The waves lapping at her limp form. Whisp materialized, and with a flash of light, Lazarus moved. "you said it would take 48 hours." Laz said between huffing breaths as she rolls onto her back. </p>
<p><br/> They had traveled for over a week rather than a couple days. A storm had rolled in at one point, and they were forced to take shelter in an old cargo ship that seemed to be floating about. But, it was there they discovered creatures called the hive. </p>
<p><br/> with a storm on the horizon, the waves were growing bigger and harder to avoid. "we need to find shelter!" Laz shouted to Whisp over the wind and engine. </p>
<p><br/> "There is a structure of some kind another couple miles ahead to the southwest," Whisp shouted back while hiding securely in Laz's hip bag. Adjusting coarse, they quickly discovered an old floating ship. It's massive hulking form rocking in the growing waves. The rain already began to pelt Laz as she pulled alongside the boat. "what about the sparrow?" she asked Whisp.</p>
<p><br/> "I'll disassemble it and store the matter till we need it again don't worry." came whisps response from the pouch. Spotting a ladder on the side of the ship's hull and sped up toward it. As she grew close enough, she grabbed the ladder, letting the sparrow fall away. Just as it began to slip beneath the water, it dematerialized into the light. </p>
<p><br/> At the top of the ladder, Laz found an empty deck. "this is an old tanker ship from the golden age. It must of broke loose after the collapse and just been floating about. But, something is not right," said Whisp as she hovered in the air beside Laz's head. </p>
<p><br/> "And what's that?" Laz asked, pulling her rifle from her back. The empty deck and growing wind and rain make her feel uneasy. "This is even though the ship isn't visibly tethered to anything. We're not actually moving. We should be freely drifting dead in the water, but we haven't moved an inch since you climbed on board. be careful, guardian." Whisp said, her voice lowering to a whisper.</p>
<p><br/> She moved across the deck to the nearest door she could see. She carefully looked around before walking inside. She put her rifle back on her back. It's length not suited for these tight halls. Drawing the old revolver from her belt, Laz moved as quietly as possible the gun held high at the ready. After several tense minutes passed, she found old crew quarters: a small desk, a bunk bed with a moldy pillow, and a wool blanket. </p>
<p><br/> She found the door would close, but the locks wouldn't move. Feeling uneasy about this, Laz took the metal chair and put it in front of the door. If nothing else, it would make noise if the door were to be open and keep the door from moving with the increasing movement of the ship. Feeling as safe as possible, Laz removed the canvas cape she had made hanging it up to dry. She laid down on the lower bunk, putting her revolver on the thin mattress by her head. Eventually, she drifted off to sleep from the ship's rocking. The muffled thunder outside, signaling the full arrival of the storm.</p>
<p><br/> She doesn't know why she woke up. She looked around the room. Nothing had changed from how she left it. Just as she was about to go back to sleep, she heard the sound of taloned footsteps in the hall outside of the door. Laz sat up slowly, her revolver already in hand pointed at the door. she carefully eased the hammer back, trying to make as little noise as possible. "whisp what the fuck is that?" Laz whispers into the darkness. </p>
<p><br/> "I don't know. my scans didn't pick up any life, but the metal of the ship might have hidden something." Whisp responded.</p>
<p><br/> After a second, there were a few more steps, before a soft sniffing followed by a sound that could only be compared to someone dragging a knife over a metal table. "the hive." gasped Whisp.</p>
<p><br/> "The fuck is the hive!?" Lazarus whispered back, never taking her eyes or revolver off the door. </p>
<p><br/> "another alien race. Very, very bad! Think ants, but with magic, swords, and guns. They make a nest on a planet and then go about destroying all life there before moving on. but what are they doing on this ship!?" Whisp said, obviously distressed. Just as Laz was about to respond, the door began to move. </p>
<p><br/> Inch by inch, the door slowly moved in before hitting the chair. The moment the chair made a noise, the door stopped moving. Through the gap came a light brown claw. First, its sharp-looking claws clinked against the metal door before moving down to find the chair. In her ear whisp whispered in Lazarus's ear. "it's a thrall. They have no eyes. so maybe if you remain perfectly silent, it won't notice you." Laz just nodded in understanding. </p>
<p><br/> The claw moved over the chair a bit before it pushed more on the door moving the door open fully. At first, Laz thought she was looking at a corpse of a starved person moving again. But, upon a closer look, she realized its body was segmented like plates. It's skull where its eyes would be were just a flat boney plate. It slowly looked around the room and sniffed loudly. It moved into the room, it's clawed feet clicking on the metal. It moved closer and closer. Laz remained perfectly still as the thrall's face came within inches of hers. It gave several loud sniffs before opening its mouth and letting out a shriek cut short by the report from the revolver under its chin. Blasting its black blood all over the bottom of the top bunk. Instead of a corpse hitting the ground, the boney plates fell to the ground, and ash-like powder dusted over Lazarus. </p>
<p><br/> "that's not good. It's alerted the nest!" said Whisp. Laz got up and pulled her cape on before suddenly stopping. "whisp what's missing right now?" Laz asked frozen stock still. In the silence, the sound of rain, thunder, and wind could still be heard outside. Whisp floated, looking around and even scanned the room. "what is it?" she asked.</p>
<p><br/> "movement. the ship, in the middle of a storm, isn't moving at all." Laz responded. "oh," was the only response the little drone could give as the weight of that realization hit her. Without another word, Lazarus moved to the door. Quickly glancing into the hallway and finding it clear. She moved back the way she had come to get back onto the deck. from somewhere deep inside the shit an ear-splitting shriek. "that doesn't sound good!" Laz said, moving into a run. She rounded the corner that would lead her to the door for the deck. before her a small horde of creatures similar to the one she had already killed. "by the traveler." Whisp said. All the heads swiveled, and they let out their own shrieks. Bringing the revolver up, Laz unloaded into the group dropping several, again their bodies seemingly disintegrating except for the plates before hitting the ground. </p>
<p><br/> The remainder charged down the hall, falling over each other trying to get to her. Laz turned and ran as fast as she could back the way she had come. "you need to use your light!" shouted Whisp as they moved. <br/> "how do I do that!?" shouted back Laz as she reloaded her gun.</p>
<p><br/> "well, what do you need right now?" said Whisp exacerbated.</p>
<p><br/> "a grenade would be great right now!" Laz said, stopping long enough to unload the revolver again into the horde of thrall behind her. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><br/> "ok, we can do that. Clasp your hand like your holding a ball and imagine energy gathering there. Focus until it feels absolutely real and then throw!" instructed Whisp.</p>
<p><br/> Laz looked at the ghost, unsure for a moment but, figuring she had nothing to lose, she made a couple more turns and stopped to focus. Making a claw with her hand, she closed her eyes and concentrated. At first, she felt nothing but foolishness. But then she wondered what would energy feel like? Instantly her mind jumped to the sun. She imagined the feeling of the sun against her metal skin. She then imagined all that warmth over her skin moving and collecting in her hand, her palm warm against its light. It was then she realized that the light and heat wasn't just in her mind. opening her eyes, she found a glowing fireball the side of a baseball in her hand. "Woah..." was all Laz could say for a moment.  "GREAT NOW THROW IT!" shouted Whisp as the mass of thralls barreled around the corner. </p>
<p><br/> Throwing as hard as she could, the ball of fire bounced off the metal floor once behind it landed in the middle of the thralls. Exploding in a blast of heat and fire. "so you're a solar hunter. Wonderful!" said Whisp over the crackling of fire and bodies. <br/> "if you say so. can you find a way out of here?" Laz asked, quickly reloading in the moment of respite. Whisp let out a pulse of her own light being silent for a moment before answering. </p>
<p><br/> "oh no. the hive is casting some sort of ritual in this ship. There are a lot of them between us and the surface. but if we go down, we should find another set of stairs allowing us to find the top deck again and getting out of here." Whisp said her blue eye waiting for Laz's response.</p>
<p><br/> Without a word, Laz began moving down the stairs gun at the ready. as she continued down, she began to notice more and more organic material growing on the walls. "what is this stuff?" Laz asked, pausing to look at a glowing bundle of fungus growing on the wall.</p>
<p><br/> "the hive begins converting any space they exist in into almost a living space. The hive will continue to spread out until ether something stops them, or they run out of space. If left alone long enough, this whole ship would basically become a living thing." The ghost responded, her light glancing over the walls looking at the various growths. </p>
<p><br/> They moved through the halls silently for several minutes, finding nothing new. The walls and floor becoming more and more covered in the growths. Every so often, a glowing crystal is found illuminating the darkness with soft yellow light. Laz passed through a door and paused in awe, looking at the sight before her.</p>
<p><br/> In the center of the room was a large stone covered in unknown runes, green energy flowing like water through them. "this must be the focus of the ritual. It's like a giant battery." ghost said as she scanned the stone. "but what could they be possibly summoning out here?" she asked.</p>
<p><br/> Laz was about to answer, but then her face went slack. She raised her gun, pointing it at Whisp. "guardian...what are you doing?" she asked softly. The sound of a single shot echoed through the halls of the ship.<br/> Whisp floated in silence, looking down at Laz. Behind the little drone, the hulking beast stood its head tipped back. Whisp quickly flew to Laz's shoulder, looking at the creature. "that's a hive night." she whispered. A deep growl grew in the silence as its head came back forward. The boney structure that would be a helmet was cracked over its right eye. it's green glowing eyes burned at her. "how do I kill it?" Laz asked as she stared down the knight. The creature began to slowly step around the base of the stone toward them. "with bullets. Lots and lots of bullets." was whisps reply.</p>
<p><br/> Laz brought her cannon up, firing into the knight's chest, which seemed to not even faze it. Laz cursed, reaching for the light again to see if she could produce another grenade. "you need more time to recharge that before you can use it again!" shouted Whisp. </p>
<p><br/> "well, great to know that now!" shouted back Laz as she turned to run down a different hallway, the knight roaring from behind her. She ducked down several turns before she realized the knight wasn't following. "how far are we from getting back to the surface?" asked Laz. Whisp spun her fins in the air as she processed the question.</p>
<p><br/> "We need to go down one more, and then we should be able to find a freight elevator we can use to reach the surface." finally came Whisp's response. Laz reloaded her revolver and followed behind her floating companion.<br/> Two more flights of stairs and a couple long hallways, they suddenly came to a large open area. What would once house massive shipping containers was now completely empty except for a gigantic glowing circle on the floor. A creature like the thrall and knight floated in the air. This one was clearly female. "a wizard. We discovered their ritual. We have to stop her! who knows what they could be summoning!" Whisp whispered urgently in Laz's ear. </p>
<p><br/> Laz sighed and brought her sniper rifle up. "she'll cast a defensive shield once she realizes she's under attack. so make it count!" Whisp said, again in Laz's ear. Taking her time accounting for the gentle bob of the wizard as she cast her spell. When Laz finally pulled the trigger, the wizard's arms went limp. As she drifted toward the ground, she turned to ash her final scream, as if it was sealed in a bottle that suddenly uncapped filled the air. "great shot!" shouted Whisp<br/> "Now let's get out," started Laz as she stood up. But, before she could finish, two things happened at once. As the last light left the ritual circle, the ship stopped being stationary. What was before completely unaffected by the storm outside was being thrown as if the storm was happy to finally have a toy.</p>
<p><br/> The other thing that happened as the ship bucked in the waves, a massive hand burst through the metal floor, grabbing the stock of her sniper rifle and ripped it from her hand. She looked down through the hall and saw the knight growling up at her. "perfect timing big guy." she said as she pointed her revolver down. Before she could pull the trigger, she was tackled from the side by a hive creature between the thrall and knight in size. Whisp would later identify it as a hive acolyte.</p>
<p><br/> They fell through the air bouncing off a large clump of hive comb before hitting the floor. Her revolver bounced off into the distance. She stood up, the acolyte before her was already on its feet. It clicked its teeth before letting out a roar. "oh shut up!" shouted Laz tired of these creatures. </p>
<p><br/> The creature charged forward, swinging its arm claws bared. In response, Laz quickly stepped inside the swing, grabbing its arm, pulling it against her back before twisting pulling it over her shoulder, slamming it down onto the ground. A pipe sticking up through the hive comb piercing its chest as it landed. Several more acolytes charged from the darkness.</p>
<p><br/> Reaching for the light inside her again, she found a glowing ball in her hand again. "all charged up!" she shouted as she tossed it. This time the ball popped when it hit the ground separating into several little drones, which chased a couple different hive exploding against their eyes and throats. Laz rushed the remaining ones trading blows. Focusing her strikes to joints, soft spots between armor, as well as balancing that with different throws using the creatures larger size to her advantage, she made quick work on the acolytes. </p>
<p><br/> She kicked out the knee of the final one finishing it by jumping on it's back, wrapping her arm around its neck and twisting till she heard a sickening snap. As it slumped to the floor, she turned in time to see the sword swing from the knight that sent her tumbling through the air. She skipped along the floor twice before stopping. Her clothes were ruined, and her body was severely damaged. She looked up and saw her revolver. Whisp appeared to heal her, glancing at the knight as it approached. "you need to move!" shouted Whisp as she charged up to heal Laz.</p>
<p><br/> "no!" croaked Laz. She was tired of running, she was so sick of hiding from these creatures. of picking them off in the darkness. She wanted this knight dead, she wanted off this ship, she was tired of feeling scared. All this anger burned inside her as she reached out, grabbing her gun. the fire in her heart erupted down her arm and enshrouding her gun. as she stood the flame traveling over her body. "I'll burn away this darkness!" Laz shouted before she unloaded her gun. each shot erupted in fire and light as she fanned the hammer and squeezed the trigger bracing her wrist against her hip. </p>
<p><br/> Six shots fired, six holes smoldered in the body of the knight. It's remaining claw reaching up at the mess that was once it's face before it fell to the ground to crumble to ash. The light that covered Laz faded away as fast as it appeared, and she slumped against the wall, her body feeling drained. Laz looked at Whisp, but before she could ask what happened, a loud groan caught their attention. </p>
<p><br/> The hull behind the knight had 6 glowing points in where the burning shots had superheated and weakened the steel. suddenly the wall collapsed in, and water began to pour in. "now it's time to go!" Laz shouted. Despite feeling like her body was made more of rubber instead of steel, she quickly ran. Weaving around pillars, vaulting over boxes, she made it to the door on the opposite side of the hold from where she came from. </p>
<p><br/> Laz quickly found the elevator, but it was so covered in hive comb; there was no way it would move, and the water was growing fast. "I've got an idea, whisp get in my pocket now."</p>
<p> <br/> "what are you going to do!?" shouted Whisp as she materialized in her pouch. Laz jumped on top of the elevator, looking up figured out which cable connected to the weight. "going up!" she said. Grabbing the cable as tight as her mechanical hand could and shot the connector to the elevator. The weight dropped, and upshot Laz. The shaft filled with the screams of both Laz and Whisp. </p>
<p><br/> Seeing the door at the very top was open. Laz let go of the cable, allowing her momentum to carry her higher. She summoned a layer of light beneath her feet and jumped toward the opening landing on the tossing soaked deck with a heavy thud and roll. </p>
<p><br/> "don't ever do that again, guardian!" shouted Whisp from her pouch. Laz just laid there laughing for a moment as the rain pelted her. Laz stood up, steadying herself against the railing. "why not? It worked, didn't it!? now let's get off this ship before it pulled us down with it!" Laz responded. They moved along the railing till they came to a spot where the railing was ripped off by something. "just jump!" shouted Whisp over the wind and rain. </p>
<p><br/> As Laz fell through the air, suddenly, her sparrow appeared under her. She gripped the controls jamming the ignition with her thumb, the engine rumbling to life. As they hit the water's surface, it exploded like a geyser as the sparrow raced forward over the waves. on a couple peaks of water, Laz glanced back, seeing the ship slip below the water, lost to the storm. "hopefully, any hive on board will be crushed at the bottom of the ocean." Laz said to Whisp. Adjusting coarse, they continued across the ocean toward the distant shore that would get them to the lost city and, hopefully, a chance to rest.</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Last City</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Laz meets Cayde and shows him what she can do as a young hunter.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A sparrow coughed and sputtered as it navigated the surf. Lazarus was tired, having driven none stop from the ship over the ocean. Her sparrow was reaching its final legs. Being cobbled together and then pushed well beyond normal operating limits and speeds, it was failing fast. </p><p>	Just as Lazarus managed to catch a final wave to ride into shore, the engine gave a loud bang and dark smoke starting pouring from the sides. "come on, baby! just get to the beach!" Laz shouted at her sparrow. The hover jets began to sputter and cut off randomly, causing the sparrow to start to dip into the water. </p><p>	Just as the sparrow's nose hit the sand, the engine exploded, the frame buckled, and with the wave pushing from behind folded the sparrow in half tossing Lazarus to the sand with a heavy thud. She laid there for a moment, just thankful to be on solid ground again. </p><p>	Enrapt in her relief she failed to hear the sound of heavy boots until they were just above her head. she slowly looked up at massive creatures with red and black armor guns with barrels almost as wide as her head pointing down at her. "well aren't you big fuckers?" she asked.</p><p>	They looked at each other and spoke in a garbled tongue; she couldn't even dream of understanding. One reached down, grabbing her by the front of her uniform and pressed its barrow against her stomach. "bye-bye guardian." it said in broken English.</p><p>	Laz gave a heavy sigh looking past the alien. "all that effort, and this is how I die?" she thought. Then she noticed another noise behind the laughter of the aliens. </p><p>	Human laughter quickly growing louder. Suddenly from the right in a flash of purple, a wall of silver and gold hit the alien that was holding Laz. The creature roared in pain before suddenly vaporizing into purple light. The other alien shouted in its garbled language as it tried to point its gun at the attacker but found it's vision blocked by a blinking purple ball stuck to its face. The grenade exploded, removing the top half of the creature its legs just falling to the sand. </p><p>	Laz looked up at the person standing above her now. Shoulders wide enough to support the world and armor, though clearly battle-worn, lovingly polished glistening in the sun. "I think those were the last two kills right bubs?" she asked. Suddenly she noticed Lazarus on the ground. The person removed her helmet and smiled down at Laz. "sorry if I stole those cabal kills from ya. I couldn't resist!" she said, smiling. </p><p>	When Laz didn't answer, she finally looked over Lazarus. "oh my, you are looking rough! Where's your armor?" she asked, kneeling down concern on her face. At this point, Whisp materialized. "she hasn't been able to find any yet. we're trying to get to the last city." </p><p>	the woman looked Laz over one more time. Taking in her tattered uniform, the dirty and rust speckled revolver in her belt, the ragged canvas hanging from her shoulders. "you must be newly risen! Bubbles! Bring the ship around! we gotta get her to the city fast!" </p><p>	over her shoulder, a ghost flew into view. it's shell spun for a moment as it began to remote pilot the ship from orbit. "right away, Tessa!" Tessa turned and thumped Laz on the shoulder. "I'm Tessa, a titan. That's obviously Bubbles, my ghost. I promise you on the traveler I will get you to the city safe." she said, giving a sure smile. Laz couldn't help but smile back. Her eyes were so confident.</p><p>	"I'm Lazarus. I'm, I don't know what I am honestly," responded Laz weakly. </p><p>	But, Whisp cut in. "she's a hunter. a brand new hunter." </p><p>	"well, then hunter. let's get you back to the city so you can meet Cayde, and we can get you some proper armor." Tessa said, pulling Laz to her feet as a ship swooped in and hovered over the beach kicking up sand.</p><p>	They walked through the hanger, ships hovering in and out like busy bees dropping off their passengers and their contents. Others landing in bays to get work done. Tessa and Laz walked from Tessa's ship toward an Exo leaning against a rack. "hey Cayde!" Tessa called out. "I found a fresh hunter out in the wild. I figured I'd bring her to you to get squared away." </p><p>	Cayde looked Laz over and smirked. "wow, what trash bin did you find this one hiding in? That's alright hunter. Not everyone can look as pretty as I did when I first rezzed." he said smirking. his ghost suddenly appeared over his shoulder. "Yeah, he was so panicked when I revived him he ran straight off a cliff to his death. the only guardian I know who needed a rez minutes after being brought back." </p><p>	"excuse you sundance! I don't believe anyone asked you!" Cayde shot back as Tessa and Laz laughed. Cayde extended a hand to Laz. "I'm Cayde6, I'm the hunter vanguard. I'm super important around these parts. sort of the boss of bosses." <br/>	"oh, hey, Zavala!" Tessa said, looking toward a hallway. </p><p>	"what where!? I filled out those reports you asked for!" Cayde said, spinning around to look. Not seeing anyone, he turned back. "that's a mean trick, Tessa! Don't think I'll forget about it! Now get out of here. I have a baby chick to turn into a rooster!" he said, turned back to Laz.</p><p>	Tessa laughed some more before giving Laz a playful punch in the arm. "good luck. Once you get your legs under you, send me a call, I'll show you around the system!" and with that Tessa headed back toward her ship to return to her patrol.<br/>	"now, first! Let's get you some proper gear. those rags won't be stopping any bullets." Cayde said, walking away from Laz.</p><p>	"I'm Lazarus3, by the way. This is Whisp. She's told me a little bit, and Tessa told me some stuff about the city. But, this is still a lot to take in. what exactly is your job here if you don't mind me asking." Laz said after catching up to Cayde.</p><p>	"my job? Well, that's easy. Sit in this tower, eating delicious ramen and watching everyone else have fun!" he said, laughing. But seeing Laz's confused face, he sighed, remembering what it was like when he first revived. "All right, in the simplest terms, you are a hunter. I am the leader of the hunters. My job is to make sure you guys are handling missions as the vanguard, that's a council comprised of a hunter, a warlock, and a titan, see's fit. my job is also to make sure that hunters have the minimum gear to properly do their jobs and the training to do those jobs without getting themselves or their fire teams killed." Cayde said as they walked through hallways. </p><p>	The two exo's now stood in a large empty room, the walls covered in panels. "alright, first, let's see how you fight without a gun." Cayde said, hitting some buttons on a panel by the door. "we'll start with 4 frames, but be ready for any sudden change. This is a test! And I've been pretty bored with paperwork, so I wanna keep this entertaining!" as he spoke, a panel opened, and a rack of humanoid robots slid out.</p><p>	"are these things like us?" Laz asked as she eyed the four frames stepping off. </p><p>	"traveler, no! Don't worry kid, these are purely AI in simple robotic bodies. we're human minds shelled from a body like a walnut, blended up, and poured into a top of the line metal body." Laz stared in horror at Cayde for a moment. "oh! No, not literally! It was a metaphor! we don't have anything organic about us." Cayde quickly corrected. "we'll go over it more later. right now, focus on entertaining me!" Cayde said with a thumbs up after hitting the begin button.</p><p>	The four frames quickly stepped forward, moving into a simple fighting stance. Laz readied herself. They all stood motionless for a moment before suddenly one frame jumped forward in a front kick. Laz sidestepped, grabbing the leg and starting to turn with the intent to throw it. Suddenly, she felt a blow to the back of her head, which sent her sprawling. "watch out for sneak attacks! These aren't some stupid dregs. they will gladly fight unfair!" Cayde called from the panel. </p><p>	"Thanks for the heads up!" Laz snapped back, rubbing the back of her head. after getting up, Laz looked at her enemies again; they stood with their metal fists up, ready to go again. Laz took a deep breath, whispering as she exhaled. "I am a river. Watch me flow." suddenly, she rushed into the pack of four. She elbowed one frame sending it stumbling and thrust her shoulder into the one directly in front of her sending it falling to the floor. </p><p>	Without a pause, she turned to face the remaining two; one was coming in with a wide punch, which she quickly stepped inside of turning, pressing her back against its chest. She grabbed it's punching arm as it looped around her, and pulling hard as she dropped to one knee her left leg shooting behind her, pulling the frame to the floor. </p><p>	Using the momentum of the throw, she rolled over the frame and back to her feet as the first frame she elbowed was coming in with another front kick. Again she quickly stepped past the kick, grabbing the frame by the head and pulling back and down as hard as she could, it's carbon fiber braincase hitting the floor hard enough to crack the shell. The light in the single eye going out, and the body limp.</p><p>	Turning once more, she faced the one she had shoulder checked now back on its feet. Not giving it a chance, she rushed it. Unleashing a series of blows into its chest and a single uppercut snapping its head back roughly. Sending it back to the floor with a hard kick to where it's abs would have been. </p><p>	She smiled, feeling she was doing well when suddenly a set of arms wrapped around her, squeezing her tightly from behind. She cursed as she tried to break free. The frame just jerked her to face another frame that was getting ready to punch her. The first blow hit jarring Laz's head to the right, causing a moment of dazed confusion. suddenly a knife appeared in the shoulder of the frame holding her. "situation constantly changes!" Cayde called from the panel, smiling.</p><p>	Laz cursed as she jumped using the frame, holding her like support kicking the frame that had hit her with both feet. All three of them toppled to the floor, the one holding Laz letting go to stop its fall. Allowing her moment to carry her over. She quickly grabbed the knife, wrenching it free from the frame and burying it into its single eye, causing the body to go limp. </p><p>	She looked at the last two frames pulling the knife free from the head of the one at her feet. The two frames both charged in unison hands raised to guard their heads against attack. Thinking quickly, Laz rushed forward toward one of them rolling into its legs on her side, tripping it. As she got to her feet, the other frame landed a blow across her face and into her gut. Grunting with each strike, she grabbed the frames wrist after the gut hit and stabbed into its neck. </p><p>	As the final frame got up, she threw the knife, burying it in the frames eye dropping it. Breathing hard, she scanned the room and found no more enemies. The only sound was Cayde clapping. "impressive! You've got a lot of promise! Quick thinking, unconventional tactics. I bet if you were fighting something more fleshy, you wouldn't hesitate to put a boot into some nether regions!" </p><p>	Cayde crossed the room and wrapped his arm around her. "here, take this, and go talk to my guy banshee. He'll get you some proper armor, fix up your cannon, and get you something with a little more reach. Just give him this badge to know to add it to my tab." he said, passing her a silver disc. "just a warning though he's a little forgetful, so you might need to remindI'll a couple times what he's doing. i'll have your assignment linked to you by the time you finished." Cayde lead her toward the door as they spoke and slapped her on the back when he finished.</p><p>	"get going, I'll clean up in here." a distant door opened, and a booming voice could be heard speaking about coming "matches." Cayde quickly glanced down the hall. "hurry up! Don't want megaphone to catch you! I'll deal with Shaxx!" Cayde said, quickly pushing Laz down the hallway. as she rounded the corner, she heard the voice of Shaxx call out. "Cayde? what are you doing here?" then a moment of pause before Shaxx shouted, "And what have you done to my redjacks!?"</p><p>	above in a beautiful market place, Laz quickly found Banshee's shop. After a couple of hours of gentle prods and reminders, Laz walked back into the sun wearing some simple metal armor, a combat knife, a cleaned and serviced hand cannon, and a new auto rifle. </p><p>	"I just received a message from Cayde. we need to meet him in the hanger to catch the transport to our assignment." Whisp said. She found the hanger with some help and standing next to a cargo ship stood Cayde. "hey, you'll be heading out to the EDZ. I have a hunter there who I think will be a good fit for teaching you. He's currently dealing with fallen and Cabal out there, and I'm sure he'll appreciate someone to talk to who isn't trying to kill him. He's a fallen named Urgen Caj. he'll meet you at the landing pad." Cayde said while the ship was being loaded. "he's a little cranky sometimes. But don't let him scare you off. He's one of the few to truly be called a "hunter" if you know what I mean. oh, and one more thing!" Cayde held out his hand, his ghost sundance appearing and transmatting a folded piece of white linen into his waiting palm. "no hunter is complete without this. wear it well." </p><p>	As Laz boarded the ship, she waved goodbye to Cayde. Once the door of the bay closed, she pulled the hood of her new cloak up over her helmet. Which concealed a prideful smile. For the first time since being awoken by Whisp. She was genuinely excited to see what the future would hold for her.</p>
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